Olympics!

Loving Olympics. Loving vacation. Loving the late sleep-ins. Loving a lot right now.

A couple of reflections: Really feeling for the US gymnast who didn't get the gold on the vault. My dad put it really well, however, "If the whole thing could be decided on paper they wouldn't need to compete." Ninety-nine times out of a hundred,Maroney might have beaten all of those girls--but it is the Olympics and if you fall on your butt you just don't get the gold medal. I'm sure there is a lesson in all that. No matter how awesome the resume is, can you actually DO the job you've been hired to do? What are your thoughts?

I also liked what this commentator had to say, "Perhaps McKayla Maroney tasted Olympic gold before it was actually hers – leading her to rush through the very moment in which she needed to seize it - and perhaps we were guilty of the same. Many fans will take disappointment away from this Olympic vault final, knowing that the gymnast who is widely considered the greatest female vaulter of all time failed to get her due on the Olympic stage. But Maroney’s shocking silver medal serves as a reminder that the Olympics have nothing to do with a “prewritten script.” The Olympics are about athletes seizing opportunities and creating those special moments that we never forget – however unexpected they may be."

I was less than impressed with the frown she wore on the medal stand. Maybe a silver medal was just what she needed . . .

Today in Sunday school the teacher was talking about watching the Olympics. He said I would bet that most of us could name some gold medalists, but none of us could name an 8th placer. And yet, those folks are 8th in the whole world. They are great too. No doubt they have practiced as much as the first placers. In some cases, more, for they might lack that genetic gift of two more inches or more fast twitch muscles or larger feet or natural muscle tone and on and on and on. He then asked if we sometimes feel like that 8th place Olympian. Working hard. Struggling. Committed. Sacrificing. And yet, nobody knows our name.

He reminded us that Somebody does know our name. Somebody very important. That even the most obscure among us are not unknown to the Lord and that He knows of our sacrifice and struggle. In this Olympic season I'm grateful for scriptures that remind me it isn't requisite to win the prize, only to run the race.